Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons
(daughters) of God. (Matthew5:9)

The 219th
General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted a policy
statement: Gun Violence, Gospel Values:
Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call. The policy called for “the church [to] take responsibility to build public
awareness of gun violence and the epidemic of preventable gun-related deaths,
totaling more than 620,000 over the past twenty years, with hundreds of
thousands more wounded. Even while taking the focused and urgent efforts below
to achieve practical solutions, that the councils and congregations welcome
discussion from all viewpoints, and that the Advisory Committee on Social
Witness Policy review and summarize responses for the 220th General Assembly
(2012).”

Trigger Documentary –
Produced by the PC(USA)

NBC
has first dibs through May, 2013, on airing a PC(USA)-produced documentary on
gun violence. The documentary named TRIGGER:The Ripple Effect of Gun Violenceis produced by award-winning
producer David Barnhart. Our latest inquiry reveals that many of the local NBC
affiliates are not even aware that the documentary exists. We need your help! Pleasecall your local NBC affiliate today and request that the
documentary be aired in prime time given the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut,
and more than 30,000 people killed in the U.S. every year by gun violence.

To find your local NBC affiliate,
go to NBC’s website, search by state and choose your local station.
Once on the right website, look for a “contact us” or “feedback” link. Ask them to air TRIGGER in prime time.

Gun
violence daily affects communities on levels equivalent with major natural and
human disasters, and it is seen in almost every community. We may hear briefly
about the victims and survivors of these shootings, but what happens after the
media attention moves on and the wider public becomes numb to "just
another shooting"? Drawing upon conversations with lawmakers, emergency
room chaplains and surgeons, survivors and victims' families, former ATF officials,
police officers, community leaders and others, this documentary shares the
story of how gun violence impacts individuals and communities and examines the
"ripple effect" that one shooting has on a survivor, a family, a
community, and a society. TRIGGER
also addresses the critical issue of gun violence prevention (such as keeping
guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill) by moving the
conversation away from the polarizing extremes that have long dominated the
debate and by lifting up the voice and experiences of those who seek common
ground and a new way forward. View the documentary trailer.Please
call today! Encourage your friends and
church members to do the same.

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness (OPW)
extends its sympathy to the students, faculty, staff and families affected by
the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
This shooting represents another mass shooting leading to the senseless
killing of twenty-seven people, including 18 children at the Sandy Hook
Elementary School.

OPW Director, J. Herbert Nelson reissued the call for all
people to take seriously a movement to eradicate gun violence in the United
States. “We are living in a society in which random gun violence is making
everyone vulnerable to premature death. Whether it be the movie theater, houses
of worship, college campuses or elementary schools, none of us are safe with
automatic weapons; illegal sales of guns; limited background checks; and a host
of inconsistencies that exist in present gun laws. We must call on our elected
officials to committed action to stiffen gun laws in this country.”

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Earlier this
week, Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons released a statement calling for “principle, not politics” in the so-called fiscal cliff
negotiations, and in a recent OPW blog post, we reviewed the major concerns surrounding the fiscal cliff and
its economic justice implications. But
it is not only the fiscal cliff that raises our concern at this time.

As the year
and the Congressional session draw to a close, there is so much left to
do. In addition to a remedy for the fiscal
cliff, Congress has also failed to take action on two of the PC(USA)’s domestic
legislative priorities for the year: reauthorizations of the Farm Bill and the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Because of
the way negotiations are moving forward, it is with President Obama and Speaker
Boehner that the final decisions rest about what will get done and what will
wait. Despite the fact that it is
Congress’ job to complete legislative reauthorizations like the Farm Bill and
VAWA, we invite you to contact President Obama to ask him to ensure that these essential reauthorizations
are included in his final bargain with Speaker Boehner.

The Farm Bill – Just and Sustainable
Food Policy

The
Farm Bill expired on October 1, 2012.
Just and sustainable food policy has long been a priority of the
PC(USA), whose Presbyterian Hunger Program is a leading force demanding justice in the U.S. food
system. We have been calling for a Farm Bill that will:

Reduce hunger and improve nutrition in the
United States.

Strengthen rural communities and combat rural
poverty.

Provide a fair and effective farmer safety net
that allows farmers in the U.S. and around the world to earn economically
sustainable livelihoods.

We must not let
Congress ignore the Farm Bill reauthorization. Already the Farm Bill’s
expiration has thrown even more uncertainty into an inherently risky profession. But even without considering the costs to
U.S. farms, both small and large, the Farm Bill’s impact on hunger and
nutrition at home and around the world is tremendous. It contains too many vital programs to be
left for a new Congress. Furthermore, with the Fiscal Cliff looming ahead,
there are serious concerns that lawmakers will find significant deficit
reduction by cutting or making structural changes to the Farm Bill’s most
important anti-hunger program: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP
– formerly known as Food Stamps).

SNAP is one
of the most effective programs for reducing hunger and poverty. In 2011, when the sluggish economy and high
unemployment continued to plague workers in this country, SNAP kept 3.9 million
people above the poverty.[1]
SNAP’s structure makes it an elastic program that can automatically respond to
fluctuations in the economy. When times
are bad and more people are eligible for help, the program expands to provide
needed assistance. When the economy
improves, people go back to work, and the number of eligible people falls, the
SNAP rolls contract, reducing the cost and size of the program. The counter-cyclical nature of SNAP is
precisely the reason it is so good at reducing hunger – its very design makes
sure that it serves more people when times are hardest. Now is not the time to change that
fundamental structure. In the church, we
see the faces of hunger every day in our soup kitchens, food pantries, and
other ministries of mercy. We cannot
meet the need alone – only a public-private partnership where the government
provides robust assistance, will respond to the current need.

The Violence
Against Women Act, enacted in 1994, recognizes the insidious and pervasive
nature of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and
it supports comprehensive, effective, and costs saving responses to these
crimes. VAWA programs, administered by
the Departments of Justice and Health & Human Services, give law
enforcement, prosecutors, and judges the tools they need to hold offenders
accountable and keep communities safe, while supporting victims. The current authorization of VAWA expired on
Oct. 1, 2011.

On April 26, 2012, the Senate passed a
bill (S. 1925) to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act with bipartisan
support. This bill strengthened protections for all victims, including
immigrants, Native women, and gay and lesbian victims. Unfortunately, the House
of Representatives passed a version of this bill that turns back the clock on
VAWA. The House bill lacks several of the protections included by the Senate -
in fact, some of the differences in the House bill would
actually increase the risk faced by some women.

So, before the end of the
year, Congress must
enact a VAWA reauthorization that includes the important improvements contained
in the bipartisan Senate bill. Again,
because the final deal of the year will be hashed out between President Obama
and Speaker Boehner, it is imperative that the President hears about the need to
include VAWA reauthorization, with language from S. 1925, in the final
deal. VAWA has never been a partisan
issue and it should not be held hostage by vitriolic political rhetoric. Our
commitment to ending domestic and intimate-partner violence goes beyond
partisan politics or the ideological divide.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Call
immediately and talk to Speaker Boehner’s 202-225-0600 or 202.225.6205and House Majority
Leader Cantor’s office 202-225-2815 or 202. 225.4000and emphatically urge
them to “Be a hero and help pass a VAWA that includes ALL victims and
survivors. Your leadership can make this happen.” Then let them know that a
final VAWA must protect Native women and hold perpetrators accountable.

The
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a legislative
priority of the PC(USA), has been held up in Congress over technicalities. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a VAWA
reauthorization that improved protections for immigrants, Native women, and
LGBTQ victims of violence. The House bill
did not include these protections, and in fact, rolled back important
confidentiality protections for immigrant women. The PC(USA) supports the Senate-passed bill
and urges Congress to complete a VAWA reauthorization this year that protects
ALL victims of violence.

Right
now, House leadership is in talks with VAWA’s Senate champions to discuss the
reauthorization, but House leaders are hesitating about the provisions to
protect Native women. There is a path to bipartisan passage that
protects and provides justice for all victims – including Native American
women. Under current law, Native victims face dire and life-threatening
violence on Tribal lands at the hands of non-Native offenders who cannot be
prosecuted by tribal courts. Neither can these perpetrators be prosecuted
in non-Tribal courts because the offense took place on Tribal lands. The House must agree to include new
protections for these victims and ensure that perpetrators of violence can be
held accountable. It’s important for
us to tell House leaders that we will stand with them if they do the right
thing.

VAWA
has bipartisan support and in recent days, dozens of Republican members of
Congress have offered real solutions and solid support for the provisions that
include all victims. Last week, Congressmen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Tom
Cole (R-OK) introduced H.R. 6625, a stand-alone bill which contains compromise
language to address Republican concerns that the tribal jurisdiction over non
tribal defendants is unconstitutional. These good faith efforts to find common
ground and a path forward must not be dismissed.

CALL
immediately to Speaker Boehner’s 202-225-0600 or 202.225.6205
and House Majority Leader Cantor’s office 202-225-2815 or 202.
225.4000and
strongly urgeHouse Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Speaker Boehner to
seize the moment and get this bill done with the compromise tribal
jurisdictional provisions intact. This is their opportunity to stand firm
with victims of violence and we are prayerful and optimistic that they will put
politics aside and pass a VAWA inclusive of those who have been left behind so
far. House leadership needs to hear loud and clear that now is the time
to pass a VAWA for all victims—Native women included. And they need to
also hear that a VAWA which does not protect Native women and does not hold
perpetrators accountable is unacceptable.

All
victims of violence – including Native Women - cannot afford to wait another
year for justice.

I write as Congress
considers a solution to the so-called fiscal cliff. The fiscal decisions we make at the national
level indicate where our priorities are as a community. So, I urge members of Congress, as well as
President Obama and his Administration, to put first and foremost in their
negotiations those people who are already struggling with poverty, inequality,
and injustice.

In 2008, the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly said of the U.S. budget crisis:
“creat[ing] ever-increasing debt and unfunded or underfunded obligations for
future generations of Americans are a grave moral concern as well as a clear
danger to the republic.” The same
Assembly further “call[ed] upon the church and the nation to study the policies
and practices that have created this grave moral and economic crisis, to repent
of the sins of greed and of stealing from future generations who cannot defend
themselves, and to call upon our citizens and national leaders to make the
sacrifices necessary to begin to solve this problem before it is too late.”

I, therefore, urge
Congress to address this grave concern of long-term deficits by making
decisions based on principle rather than politics. We abhor the prospect of leaving a legacy of
mounting debt to future generations, and likewise believe that it would be
equally irresponsible to leave the same descendants a legacy of increasing
poverty and inequality.

It is clear that we
cannot achieve comprehensive, just, deficit reduction only by cutting spending.
Even significantly re-envisioning our military priorities, which is also
essential, will not be enough. We must
have new federal revenues to address our long-term deficits – new revenue that
must be raised through a more progressive tax code. In this way, we can both reduce our federal
deficit and ensure adequate resources to make necessary investments for future
generations.

We further challenge the
notion that entitlement reform must contribute to deficit reduction. We believe that Social Security, Medicare,
and Medicaid are part of our social insurance system, a compact between generations
that must be preserved for future beneficiaries, as well as current ones. The goal of any reform to these essential
programs must be their long-term fiscal sustainability and improved efficiency. Should deficit reduction result from
well-intentioned reform – all the better – but these programs are not the
primary contributors to the deficit, nor should they be primary sources for
deficit reduction. Again, we believe that the grave
moral concern of the federal deficit must be addressed in a balanced and
comprehensive way.

As Presbyterians, we are
anxious that our national decisions reflect our commitments as a people. We are
called by a loving and gracious God to be our brothers’ and sisters’
keepers. We know that we are responsible
to each other and, as the Gospel of Luke teaches us, “from everyone to whom
much has been given, much will be required.”
We, therefore, urge a solution to the fiscal cliff and federal deficit
that ensures long-term fiscal stability; deficit reduction; just, new revenue;
long-term integrity for entitlement programs; and a priority on the most
vulnerable in society.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Advent Expectation and the Fiscal Cliff

By Leslie
Woods

At this time
of year, as we turn our attention to the waiting and the preparation that
characterizes this holy season, and to the hope for the future that will arrive
on Christmas morning, we join with you as we wait and hope. And yet we know that God has called us to be
in the world and to call the world to better account. In the church, and especially during Advent,
we have responsibilities outside of the walls of our houses of worship. We have responsibilities in our families, in
our communities, and in our nation.

Most
pressing among the many items of business before this lame duck Congress is the
looming so-called fiscal cliff – the convergence of a number of policies that
will automatically take effect in January, 2013. In this time of intense partisanship and
long-term fiscal crisis, it is essential that the church’s voice be loud among
those seeking to influence our national decisions. The
nation’s fiscal decisions reflect the collective priorities that share – our commitment
to the common good, our call to be keepers of our brothers and sisters, and our
call to be in solidarity and support of “the least of these.”

We continue to exhort
Members of Congress to bear in mind to common good when making fiscal decisions. We join in concerns about leaving a legacy of
mounting debt to future generations, but so too do we abhor leaving a legacy of
rising poverty, inequality, and under-investment. As the national dialogue centers around ways
to reduce the federal deficit, it is first important to remember what created
our deficit (see chart) and second that there are only two ways to reduce it:
cutting spending and raising tax revenue.
To date, all deficit reduction measures ($1.5 trillion)
have come from spending cuts, mostly from the section of the budget that is not
responsible for our ballooning deficit. We
cannot cut our way out of our deficit – new revenues must be part of any
solution that seeks to reduce the deficit in a just way.

Absent
action from Congress, on January 1st, a series of deep automatic
spending cuts ($1.2 trillion) and the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts
will converge to create the so-called fiscal cliff. These policies together will significantly
reduce the deficit, but as blunt tools they will also do harm. Combined with the pending need to increase
the federal debt ceiling again and the expiration of Unemployment Insurance
Benefits for the long-term unemployed, these policies have the potential to cause
severe contraction in the economy and the labor market, even as a sluggish
recovery from the Great Recession continues to provide too few new jobs to meet
the demand of those seeking work.

However, the
current “fiscal cliff” does include some saving grace – the Budget Control Act
which put in place these automatic spending cuts, also known as the
“sequester,” includes specific and explicit protections for many mandatory programs
that serve low-income people, including Food Stamps, Medicaid, SSI, and many
other. In addition, the sequester’s $1.2
trillion in spending cuts will be evenly split between military spending and
non-military spending. So, while the
automatic spending cuts will be severe and promise to be painful for the
recipients of important government programs like WIC and affordable housing,
there is nonetheless some protection built into it. Indeed, Congress
must only agree on an alternative to the current fiscal cliff if the new
solution does a better job of protecting our shared priorities – reducing
poverty and inequality, and making sure there is a strong safety net to catch
people when times are difficult.

On the question of the
expiring tax cuts, it has been clear since the enactment of these policies in
2001 and 2003 that they disproportionately benefit the top of the income
scale. While almost all taxpayers gain
some benefit from these tax cuts, proportionately, the bottom 20% of wage
earners receive only a 3.7% tax cut while the top 20% of wage earners receive a
5.8% tax cut. And when the top of the
income scale is further dis-aggregated the top one percent’s tax cut is 7.2%
(see chart). In truth, there are
numerous proposals to bring in new revenue, many on which the PC(USA) has not
taken a position, including allowing some or all of these tax cuts to
expire. But regardless of the policies
used to achieve the end of increased revenue, it is clear that we must have new
revenue and it is essential that it not be raised from those who are already
struggling.

For slides
from a recent presentation on the fiscal cliff, click here.

Even in this
time of waiting and thanking and hoping and praying, we know that we have so much
work to do, both still to come this year, and as a New Year begins. But we engage with Members of Congress, and
with you, during this Lame Duck season with hope and thanksgiving, trusting in
our God who calls us into the public square, requiring us to bring our
religious understandings of compassion, peace, and justice, to the decisions we
make as a nation.

In the next
few weeks, the Christian community will prepare for the arrival of the Christ
child. The advocacy community will prepare, advocate, and wait for the
resolution of many policies that will affect us for years, perhaps
generations. In the Office of Public
Witness, we are present and we invite you to join us in lifting up our voices.

As the Lame
Duck session continues, we will alert you to other important PC(USA) priorities
that still require action by Congress. So
stay tuned and get ready for a busy season, not one of shopping and
consumption, but of advocacy for that which matters most – a better world, a
hope for the future.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

“When he saw them,
he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were
cleansed.” (Luke 17:14)

Today is World Aids
Day! We must remind ourselves that the alarm continues to sound regarding the
urgency to address this critical health issue of our time. The Center for
Disease Control (CDC) reported this week that out of fifty thousand new cases
reported each year - one in four persons infected with HIV/AIDS is a young
person between the age of thirteen and twenty-four. Sixty-percent of these
persons are unaware that they are infected and most of the cases (seventy-two
percent) involve men who have sex with men (MSM). We remain in a crisis
regarding HIV/AIDS in the United States and around the world.[i]The UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS epidemic
(2012) reports that despite variances between the rise and decline among
infected people across the world, we are still facing a global crisis.

Globally,
34.0 million [31.4 million–35.9 million] people were living with HIV at the end
of 2011. An estimated 0.8% of adults aged 15-49 years worldwide are living with
HIV, although the burden of the epidemic continues to vary considerably between
countries and regions. Sub-Saharan Africa remains most severely affected, with
nearly 1 in every 20 adults (4.9%) living with HIV and accounting for 69% of
the people living with HIV worldwide. Although the regional prevalence of HIV
infection is nearly 25 times higher in sub-Saharan Africa than in Asia, almost
5 million people are living with HIV in South, South-East and East Asia
combined. After sub-Saharan Africa, the regions most heavily affected are the
Caribbean and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where 1.0% of adults were living
with HIV in 2011.[ii]

This
global crisis demands our attention. I have observed congregations in the
United States that fear the judgment of people who believe that HIV/AIDS is a
gay disease. Thus, congregations that embrace ministry and advocacy among gay
persons are labeled “gay churches.” As Presbyterians and people of faith, our
passion to witness healing among persons infected by HIV/AIDS has to be so
strong that we are willing to risk being misunderstood for the sake of the
Kingdom of God. I am suggesting that a lack of faith is often the greatest
impediment to Christians shaping a significant response to persons infected
with HIV/AIDS. Faith declares that even if a person or congregation is
demonized for its courage, God’s power is enough to turn the world’s criticism
into a prolific witness for the Kingdom. Jesus was sent by God to model the
“wisdom” of God as recorded by John. (John 1:).[iii]

Jesus
healed ten persons with leprosy in Luke’s gospel (Luke 17:11-19). Traditionally,
this text is preached with a focus on the gratitude that one of these ten
persons with leprosy displayed by returning to thank Jesus for his healing. Surely,
this is an important aspect of the text. As Christians we are taught to give
thanks to God through Jesus Christ in our prayers, worship, and daily life. However,
we often overlook the risk that Jesus took regarding his own place in the
context of the community by coming into contact with these ten persons with leprosy.
Lepers were alienated from community. This dreaded skin disease represented to
some a curse from God. Healing was the only means for the lepers to find
restoration to a rightful place in the community. Touching or association with
these individuals was a societal “no-no.” Jesus was so deeply focused on
bridging the communal divide that he risked his own standing to give hope to
those who were alienated. Therefore, Jesus’ call to those he healed was not to
come and thank him, but to go and show the priest (the community gatekeeper), who
had authority to readmit these persons with leprosy into the community. In
other words, ‘Go and be restored to your rightful place among the community
that God intends for you.’

I
firmly believe this is the role of the Church – the Presbyterian Church – Pentecostal
– Baptist – Methodist – or whatever label we bear. We cannot moralize this
health crisis in order to avoid engaging the communal impact of HIV/AIDS. We
cannot declare we are in Christ Jesus our Lord while distancing ourselves from
the responsibility to touch, embrace and heal persons living with HIV/AIDS, who
need to be restored to a right relationship with family, friends and their
faith.

In
1988, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted a paper, "To Meet AIDS with
Grace & Truth," confessing that its response to AIDS had been tardy,
despite the 1986 General Assembly's warning that ". . . the rate of
infection [is predicted to] double every nine to twelve months," and its
declaration that "AIDS and ARC should be viewed as illnesses, and not as
the punishment for behavior deemed immoral . . ." (PC(USA), 1986, pp.
495-496). It cautioned the church against making moral pronouncements about
AIDS and affirmed, "that all peoples are precious to God and urge
congregations, governing bodies, and agencies of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) to renounce the popular notions of God's wrath toward AIDS sufferers .
. ." (PC(USA), 1988, p. 362).

This
week the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness (OPW) is
implementing the 2012 General Assembly policy on, “Becoming an HIV and Aids
Competent Church: Prophetic Witness and Compassionate Action.”A partnership
between the OPW, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary (Atlanta, Georgia) and
the Presbyterian AIDS Network represents one model for advancing the Kingdom, a
calling to believe that the living Christ can witness in a mighty way through
our willingness to engage this global crisis. This model provides
training/certification for theological students so that they are prepared to address
the realities of HIV/AIDS upon entering their prospective areas of ministry.
The OPW celebrates the opportunity to stress the importance of prophetic advocacyamong those gathered this week. We pray that this effort can be replicated
across the country and globe. All three of the conference sponsors (JCSTS, PAN,
and OPW) are willing to assist in efforts among Presbyterians and others across
the country to embrace HIV/Aids competency, advocacy and compassion.

Jesus’
moral authority was earned through his willingness to love people who suffered
alienation from their community. He models for us the 21st century
role of the Church, if we desire to become viable agents of hope and faith in
this world. We must advocate for the oppressed! We must overcome our fear and
tendency to demonize persons living with HIV/AIDS! The Church must become a
lifeline of hope to people who are drowning in a sea of despair!

This
World Aids Day (2012) must be the moment that we pray for the courage to love
the infected so that alienation is eliminated in our society and world. The
scriptures remind us that There is no fear in love. But perfect love cast out
fear. (I John 4:18a)

[i]Reported by Public Broadcasting - Service
Reported on November 27, 2012. Young People Make Up
More Than a Quarter of New HIV Cases in the U.S.

About Me

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate, and help the church to advocate, the social witness perspectives and policies of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The church has a long history of applying these biblically and theologically-based insights to issues that affect the public — maintaining a public policy ministry in the nation's capital since 1946.
Reformed theology teaches that because a sovereign God is at work in all the world, the church and Christian citizens should be concerned about public policy. In addition, Presbyterian forefather John Calvin wrote, "Civil magistry is a calling not only holy and legitimate, but by far the most sacred and honorable in human life."